In 2007, Kevin L. Monday Jr. was convicted for the murder of Francisco Green and received 64 years in prison. The incident was caught on a 3-minute video recording shot by a street performer, and the footage clearly shows Monday coolly and calculatingly firing 11 shots at Green on a crowded Seattle, Washington, street corner. Thus, despite the reluctance of witnesses to testify, it was an open-and-shut case.
But now the Washington Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling, has overturned the conviction and a lower court that upheld it -- thus forcing a retrial -- claiming that the prosecutor used "racist" arguments. What is the supposed problem? While questioning witnesses, veteran King County deputy prosecutor James Konat cited a no-snitching street code in the black community and made references to the "PO-leese." Writes Jennifer Sullivan of The Washington Times:
During the trial, Konat questioned witnesses, many of them black, about a purported street...(Read Full Post)